p class="">It's Tuesday, September
30th. Joe Biden has yet to announce his candidacy. A large portion of voters have
not yet heard of Bernie Sanders. No ballot has yet been cast for the presidential
primaries. Nevertheless, October 9th, 2015 is the deadline to change your
political party if you wish to vote in the New York Presidential Primaries.
Allow me to repeat this fact because you may seem shocked to hear that the
deadline to register as a member of a different political party is 193 days
before New York's Presidential Primaries will occur. This means that if you are
registered as a New York Independent, or as a member of the Green Party, a Republican,
etc., you must change your political party before that date to vote in the
Democratic Primaries, which doesn't take place till April 19th. This is 4 days before even a Democratic debate
has taken place! Even more concerning is how little has been done to inform New
Yorkers about this deadline. There is no mention of it in any of the major
newspapers. I have not seen any of my local news channels inform the public
about this deadline either. In fact, if you Google New York primaries deadline,
you will only see local newspapers in places like Albany and Buffalo make even
mention of it.

To make matters worse, the website
for the New York Board of Elections has made it almost impossible to find out
the correct date. Even more confusing is the fact the date to register as a
first time voter is months in advance. The deadline for registration for first
time voters also appears on the website's 2016 calendar and is easy to
find. However, you will not find the deadline to change your party anywhere on
that calendar. You will likely assume the date to change parties is probably
the same but this is FALSE. The
deadline only becomes more ambiguous when the form to change your political
party reads that the change of enrollment should be received no later than 25
days before the election you want to participate in.

To register for a political party or change it, you can
go to the DMV website
and do it online. I urge everyone to go to the DMV website and see for
themselves how difficult it is to navigate through this site to find the
appropriate link to declare your political party! I researched the deadline that exists in
every other state and the good news is that most states do not provide such an
abysmal deadline to register. Every vote will matter for Bernie Sanders and New
York has made it almost impossible for a less established candidate to compete
fairly. We all know that there is a much greater likelihood that Bernie Sanders
will bring in voters who were previously registered as Independents, members of
the Green Party, etc., but what will it matter if these people are denied their
very basic right to vote in a primary simply because they missed a deadline
that is unfathomable?

Now for the record, I do not believe this was purposely
done but it is a result of the archaic
way
New York State sets up their elections. Nevertheless, the harm it has caused is
irreversible. New York ranked 49th
in voter turnout in the 2014 Midterm election.
It is time to take a stand and fight back. I urge everyone to do two
things after reading this article. First, you should do everything you can to
inform as many New Yorkers as possible about the fast approaching deadline. The
second thing I urge you to do is to make a ruckus about this deadline
until it is extended. Bernie Sanders has spoken about the idea that if we want
real change, we the people have to become politically involved before an
election and stay politically involved after. I say now is the time to put this
idea to the test. I want everyone to call, email and Twitter Andrew Cuomo,
demanding that the deadline is greatly extended. Contact the state senators as
well! The more people you can find to help us join in this process, the better
chance we have in succeeding. And don't forget to get the word out so everyone
is registered as a Democrat to vote in the Democratic Primaries!

Michael Blecher was working as a research assistant at several psychology labs before becoming a political activist. He canvassed in six different states for the Bernie Sanders' campaign, and his activism has been covered in The Village Voice (more...)